Osun Decides: We’ll collect money, vote our choices, say residents

Residents of Osun State will today elect a new governor who will paddle the boat of the state of the living spring for the next four years.

The election, which will be contested by 15 political parties, is expected to be a straight duel between the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress and Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Other candidates in the race are the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf of the Labour Party, Goke Omigbodun of the Social Democratic Party and Akin Ogunbiyi of Accord Party.

Theeditorial.ng gathered that there is a heavy deployment of security operatives in major towns of the state.

Not less than 1,955,657 registered voters are expected to exercise their franchise across the 3,763 polling units.

Soldiers, policemen and members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were seen in strategic locations around the state capital and border towns.

Meanwhile, residents have vowed to collect greedy politicians’ money and still vote for their candidates.

Residents who spoke with Daily Trust said their choice would not be influenced by money and other forms of inducement.

A resident, Kunle Ogundele said, “People will troop out for the election despite the security issue. We can see the police patrolling our roads and the sky to assure residents of maximum protection.

“People are ready to cast their votes despite the issue of vote buying. We will collect money from the opponents and still vote for our candidates of choice.”

Another resident, Demola Ahmed said, “As it is now, everything is settled and people are expected to come out en masse, especially with the heavy presence and constant patrol of the town by security agents.

“On the issue of vote buying or money politics, Osun will vote for who they really want and collect money from wherever they get it from. But the election is going to be decided more on party and personality. We are tired of suffering and want to vote for who we love and believe can meet our expectations.”

The Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Pro Abdulganiy Raji, said that out of the 1,955,657 registered voters, over 1,463,047 permanent voters’ cards had been collected in readiness for today’s poll, representing 70 per cent.

Raji also said the commission had deployed all the resources needed for the success of the exercise.